Takata Airbags Recall: The Biggest Recall in the Automobile Industry

The automobile industry is facing the biggest ever recall concerning faulty airbags. The issue affects over 25 automotive brands all over the world but the U.S. being the biggest automobile market is the worst hit. The airbags were supplied by Takata, a Japanese company that produces airbags, seatbelts and other safety gadgets for vehicles. The faulty Takata airbags have been linked to 11 deaths and over 100 injuries across the world. The airbags have a defective inflator and their propellant devices don’t deploy as they should in the event of a crash. They shoot metal fragments into the cabin causing injuries to occupants.

Though the issue can be traced to 2002, it is only in 2013 that it came to the limelight and affected 6 automakers. However, the issue has widened to involve over 25 brands from different automakers. Takata has also gone ahead to admit that it has no clue as to which vehicles were installed with the defective airbags or the root cause of the defects. However, it has been observed that the problem with the airbags occur mostly in areas with high humidity with Hawaii, Florida and U.S. Virgin Islands being the most affected in the U.S.A.

When the issue first emerged, Takata claimed that propellant chemicals were not properly handled during assembly which caused metal used in the airbags to burst open due to excessive pressure when a vehicle was involved in a crash. Analysts, however, observe that the problem might have started a long time ago and that the manufacturer was in the know having had allowed a defective limit that was over 6 times the acceptable limits in its Mexico factory in 2002. They allowed around 70 defective parts for every 1 million airbag inflators shipped out of the factory.

Takata Airbags Recall -The real problem

In February, a group of 10 automakers hired the Orbital ATK Company, a firm that is engaged in rocket propulsion systems to conduct a test on the Takata airbags. The company concluded that three factors were involved. They discovered that the use of ammonium nitrate combined with the construction of the inflator assembly and exposure to heat and humidity made the inflators susceptible to rupture. When they rapture, metal shards from the airbags are sprayed in the cabin causing injuries and in some cases death instead of acting as the life savers they are.

They discovered that the use of ammonium nitrate combined with the construction of the inflator assembly and exposure to heat and humidity made the inflators susceptible to rupture. When they rapture, metal shards from the airbags are sprayed in the cabin causing injuries and in some cases death instead of acting as the life savers they are.

The financial implication

Takata has been heavily hit by the recalls. Earlier this week, the manufacturer announced a net loss of 13.1 billion Yen equivalent to $ 120.5 million for its financial year which ended in March. Already, the US regulators have slapped the company with a fine of up to $200 million.

However, the actual financial implication is not yet known as recalls are set to increase in the coming months. The recalls could hit over 100 million in the US only. Already 28.8 million have already been recalled and the U.S. safety regulators added an extra 35 to 40 million recalls earlier this month. The recall process will be conducted in five phases which will start this May and end in December 2019 according to NHTSA. It remains unclear how many more vehicles will be affected. The issue has seen the company’s stocks value drop by over 80% since 2014.

In addition, the company is set to experience hard times ahead as Mazda, Toyota, Honda and Ford are set to stop using similar airbags in their future vehicles. This coupled with the ever increasing lawsuits the company is facing will surely inflate more financial harm. Analysts observe that since airbags with ammonium nitrate exceed 280 million units, the total cost of recalling all of them could exceed $24 billion, a figure that might cripple the company for good.

Affected vehicles

There is a long list of affected vehicles and the model years affected. As such, it is important you consult your local dealer to find out if your car is one of them. However, here is a list of some of the cars that are affected.

Note: This list is not conclusive hence the need to visit your dealer for more information:

To see if your vehicle is among those affected, NHTSA has created an online resource to help affected consumers. Enter your VIN number at this website: https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/ to see if your vehicle is among those affected.